Simone Hickey, MA Historical & Heritage Studies writes:

Many unknown stories of the Great War are of those recalling the execution of allied soliders behind enemy lines. One such story is that of ‘The Men of Iron’; the largest single execution of its kind during the four year conflict. This tragic story involves Sligo man, Terence (Terry) Murphy, born in 1886 in Ballysadare, Co.Sligo. 

Anne Murphy, a widow by 1901, was mother to five boys and two girls. Terry and two of his brothers were stone-cutters. The exact date of Terry’s enlistment is not known (as no military records relating to him survive) however, it is known that he went overseas in August 1914 attached to the 2nd Battalion Connaught Rangers. This suggests that he was a reservist in the army or already serving as a soldier. 

Terry fought in the Battle of Mons, during which he and ten other soldiers became detached from their regiments amidst an assault and ended up behind enemy lines. In order to avoid capture, the men took refuge in nearby woodlands and hid in the countryside for several weeks.

In October, the men were discovered by a civilian, Vincent Chalandre, as they scavenged for food in a field. He took them to the Logez family, millers in Iron (pronounced e-ron), a small village near Etreux, the location of a battle during the retreat from Mons. There, they remained in the Chalandre home, safely hidden for the next four months.

In February 1915, the men were betrayed by Monsiuer Bachelet, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war. The eleven soldiers and Vincent Chalandre were arrested, the Chalandre residence and Logez mill were burned to the ground. After being subjected to a savage beating, the soldiers were executed and their bodies dumped in a shallow grave. Vincent Chalandre was executed three days later, and both the Chalandre and Logez families served sentences in German prisons for their part in the concealment of the men.

Ten of the eleven soldiers were with Irish regiments; five Conaught Rangers and five Munster Fusiliers.  Six were Irishmen , one – Terry Murphy, was a stone-cutter from Ballysadare Co. Sligo.